Houghton Gladstones Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

This particular bottle is a nod to Dr John Gladstones, the viticultural brain who, back in 1965, literally wrote the paper that put Margaret River on the map as premium wine country. The industry didn't forget: he picked up the Maurice O'Shea award in 2008 for services rendered to everyone's glass. The wine itself comes off a single, dry-grown vineyard in Wilyabrup, hand-picked and sorted, fermented open for ten days, basket-pressed, then left to mature for fifteen months in French barriques. Nothing rushed, nothing left to chance. In the glass, expect cassis and plum doing the heavy lifting, with a savoury streak of tobacco leaf running through it. The tannins are fine but firm - the structural kind that promise this thing is only going to get better with patience. Drink now if you must, or sit on it until 2042 if you've got the self-control.